John Wooden's Benchwarming Great Grandson Hits The Last Basket At UCLA's Pauley Pavilion
As feel-good endings to basketball-arena timelines go, what happened yesterday at UCLA's slated-for-renovation Pauley Pavilion is scripted perfectly. In the building where his great grandfather, the late John Wooden, coached eight national-championship teams, Tyler Trapani made his third on-court appearance of the season and scored his first two points of his career.
They just so happened to be the last points ever scored at old-school Pauley. Check 0:49 of the video up top. Looks somewhat fated, right?
His coach cried.
Afterward, Tyler Trapani said his family was probably worried about him because, for the first time ever, he was delaying their postgame dinner to do an interview. And when actually asked about the shot, he couldn't really answer.
"I'm still kind of baffled about what just happened," he said. "Usually, I don't even get into the games. I'm just honored to be part of the team."
UCLA and Pauley Pavilion get a heaven-sent ending - from John Wooden himself? [LA Times]
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